Ex-FSU star Toney Douglas to play for shorthanded Knicks

May 9, 2012|By Steve Gorten, Sun Sentinel

MIAMI — Knicks reserve point guard Toney Douglas will see his first action of this year’s playoffs Wednesday night in Game 5 against the Heat.

Interim coach Mike Woodson said before the morning shoot-around at AmericanAirlines Arena that the the third-year pro from Florida State will be “the first one off the bench” in relief of Mike Bibby, who will start in place of injured Baron Davis, out with a dislocated right patella.

Douglas played in 38 games in the regular season and started nine. He averaged 6.2 points and 2.0 assists in 17.3 minutes per game.

“We’ll see how he plays. He’ll be fine,” Woodson said. “I know he hasn’t played in any of the games, but he’s in uniform and I expect him to play.”

Of what he needs from Douglas, Woodson noted, “Just to run our team and do what he does best. He’s capable of making shots and defensively we’ve got to stay solid out front guarding people.”

Woodson said after Iman Shumpert's season-ending knee injury in Game 1 that he planned to use Douglas some, but opted not to. With Davis now out, and Jeremy Lin's return (knee) ruled out for this series, he can really use Douglas.

Bibby, a 14-year veteran who finished the 2010-11 season playing for the Heat, will make his fifth start of the season and first of this first-round series.

He has played more than 23 minutes – the amount of action he saw in Game 4 – just three times this season. All of those instances came during the final six games of the regular season.

Entering Game 5, Woodson said he’s not worried about his players being content with winning Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

“I don’t think that’s entered anybody’s mind,” Woodson said. “The young guys don’t know the magnitude of playoff basketball, but these veteran guys, they know that anything can happen. If we win tonight, then we really put the pressure back on them to have to come to our place and try to finish it off.”